By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, October 10 -- After Uhuru Kenyatta made his appearance at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, at the UN in New York on October 10 there was a press conference on the topic. Inner City Press asked if the ICC Prosecutor has handled the Kenya cases correctly, given that witnesses say they were coached.
Stella Ndirangu of International Commission of Jurists-Kenya said the ICC Chambers have some responsibility, for disclosing too much information such that the identity of witnesses could be figured out or “trianguled.” She said six witnesses have been killed.
"The defense kept pushing, and the Chamber kept giving,” she said. “They did not see the Kenyatta case as different from previous cases,” she said. The defendants are powerful and free, she said, contrasting it to the DR Congo, where the government has used the ICC to go after its opponents.
Haron Ndubi of Kenyans for Peace Truth with Justice added that there had been too much time between the disclosures and the hearings in the case, giving too much time for the identity of witnesses to be discovered. He said the Assembly of State Parties should consider this.
Inner City Press also asked about Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni calling for African countries to reconsider remaining in the ICC. Haron Ndubi replied that Museveni took sides in Kenya in 2007, “before Kofi Annan arrived.” He pointed out that Uganda had previous used the ICC, against the Lord's Resistance Army and Joseph Kony.
The moderator from the Coalition for the International Criminal Court recounted three previous anti-ICC attempts, the first under “the late Gaddafi.”And you know how that ended. Watch this site.
